


Eddie Kaspbrak and the Chamber of IT

by Thatmalu



Category: IT (1990), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Fluff and Angst, Fuck You JK Rowling, Gay Characters, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets, Language, M/M, Magic, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Minor Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Missing Persons, Multi, POV Eddie Kaspbrak, Teenage Losers Club (IT), Theyre all 17 or 18 in this, Trans Character, Whump, tw in chapter notes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27460465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatmalu/pseuds/Thatmalu
Summary: It’s his last year at Hogwarts Eddie still doesn’t know where he’ll belong after gradation. Not having a home to return to anymore, he struggles to find his place in the magical world. It makes it all the more difficult when something horrible under the school seems to have awaken after a 270 year slumber.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 28
Kudos: 28





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eddiethebratty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eddiethebratty/gifts), [Peach_Medusa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peach_Medusa/gifts), [Alecks_Lee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alecks_Lee/gifts).



> An IT/Hogwarts AU? In my Ao3?
> 
> So first and foremost I just want to say, Fuck JKR, but her horribleness will not take away what the HP books did for my childhood, self-esteem, and depression. Nah bitch, you can’t take that from me.
> 
> Instead, I’m recycling :))
> 
> In this fic, we respect all LGBTQ+ individuals. By we I mean readers and myself, because it ain’t a thatmalu fic without some whump and angst. 
> 
> A special thanks to Autumn, Sora, and Alecks.  
> I spent a great deal of time actually working out character placements, they all helped me in various ways, such as helping me take the entire Pottermore tests from each character perspective to get House placements, wand types, etc. we also had a lot of discussion about blood status, created a class schedule, and general plot stuff, and I couldn’t have done it without these three helping out! I will tag them on my tumblr. You can read their fics, tagged in the gifted to!
> 
> Also! Since I’m abolishing magical slavery and making every Loser character LGBTQ+, let me know if there’s any other small mentions of changes you wish to see! If it’s not plot-compliant I apologize but I’ll do my best!
> 
> This is just a little prologue, future chapters will be longer, but enjoy!

Many centuries ago, four witches made a pilgrimage across the seas, hoping to escape persecution of the non-magical beings of old britain. Unlike the pilgrims that would arrive there much later, these four friends made their stop up north in what was now known as the state of Maine. The only people that seemed to live here only appreciated their magic and the indegenous people of the land welcomed them and helped them find a place of solitude deep in the wilderness.

This was where they decided to make their school.

It was small at first, a simple structure where they invited the tribes to come share magic with them, having some wisdom and knowledge of their own. Over time, the Europeans came and the four friends were forced to ward off hostile forces with spells that kept away all but magical beings like themselves. As it turned out, some of the indigenous children and even some of the colonizers were still able to wander there, proving their own natural magical abilities.

Those that were soon welcomed there were sworn to secrecy and after some time the school grew to be its own castle, one which the founders called Hogwarts after a clever little plant that started springing up in the summer, despite the conditions not being to the plants nature. Soon, the four founders developed a well-suited curriculum and structure within the castle.

A funny thing happened as the years went by. Fair Ravenclaw, the most clever of the four founders, developed a magic that could detect infants born with the magical ability. Once they came to be, their names appeared on a list hung up in the Master Office where they’d stay until it came time to invite them to join the school. Whether or not this was a condition of the spell, or if it just happened to be a clever coincidence of magic, there were _always_ forty new students every year. More interesting at that, they all seemed to become evenly sorted between the four Houses established by the founders; ten students being sorted into each House by brave Gryffindor’s enchanted Sorting Hat. 

It had taken all four of them and the help of some other elders to fix the hat properly, giving it an astounding ability to see into the depths of the wearer's mind, even beyond that which they could see for themselves. The creation of the Houses was to create a place for like-minded students to be amongst each other, plus help give them some friendly competition since no other magical schools really existed here. They’d share their classes with Housemates, join the Quidditch team and compete against other Houses, and hopefully find a sense of peer companionship within the Houses they were placed in. 

After first deciding to place the students in Houses at random, it soon seemed that certain founders had a preference for the students they would overlook.

Ravenclaw wanted the clever and witty children to take under her wing. She liked the weird ones, the ones that thought outside of the box but knew when to stay in it. Gryffindor wanted the bold and the brave. He wanted to teach the students that would head straight on into danger without a second thought, who aimed to tame all obstacles in their path. Dear Hufflepuff wished to teach the kinder of students, the gentle-natured young who only aimed to be fair and just. She wanted to teach warriors of the heart. Then Slytherin, cunning Slytherin, he valued those who had great ambition, who strived to do whatever they could with cunning and resourcefulness. He loved the students who were as shrewd as he.

So it was; the school went on for centuries, providing the finest education to magical children and teens from all around the country and the great north, from ages 11 to 18 by the time of graduation. Many of them went on to help create a functioning but quiet society amongst the modern non-magical world, still hidden in secret. A great many of them still took their education and entered their adult lives with a steady plan and life focus. The school had an amazing structure to help them all find their potentials and start wonderful lives once they left these halls.

Then there was Eddie Kaspbrak.

Now, Eddie knew he wasn’t a complete idiot. Of course, the only real reasoning he had for that besides his steady grades was the little voice that whispered in his ear on his first night in the castle.

“Clever boy, clever,” the hat said in his ear. “But no, not a Ravenclaw…”

Not a Ravenclaw. Not clever _enough_ , it seemed.

“A bit of cunning, yes, but I dare say you may not be shrewd enough to get along with those folks…”

Of course not. Slytherin was for leaders. Kids with ambition and drive. Eddie had none of that.

“Quite the heart, too, but… where does your courage take you?”

Not in Gryffindor, apparently. 

A few of the newer students laughed when the hat had shouted “HUFFLEPUFF!” across the hall, just as they did with the students before him. The table of black and yellow to his left screamed joyously for their new arrival. Nearly tumbling down the small steps back down, Eddie sheepishly made his way over to the table, sitting himself down between the two other boys sorted here with him so far. 

“Hey,” said the one to his left side, a kind-faced black boy whom Eddie had heard speak with a slight southern drawl earlier in the day. “Look at your robes!”

Eddie looked down to see the hems of his all-black robes suddenly shimmer and change to the bright, vibrant yellow of the Hufflepuff House.

“They’ll give us the Hufflepuff uniform, too!” said the boy to Eddie’s right; just a bit taller than Eddie, but much wider, just as kind faced as the other kid. “They’ll give us a whole new wardrobe for the House!”

Of course, Eddie quickly realized wearing his yellow tie under the gray sweater vest and badger emblem on his black robes was equivalent to wearing a ‘ _Kick me!’_ sign on his back. Being in Hufflepuff was basically being leftovers; nowhere near clever or strong enough for the other Houses. Still, after Eddie's initial sulking, he soon came to be very happy stuck in a dorm with those two boys he met on his first night: Mike and Ben. They were two of the kindest and most generous people Eddie had ever met, and it made him feel like he wasn’t even adequate enough for the most targeted House for bullying.

As long as he stuck close by Mike and Ben, Eddie was able to stay under the radar _most_ of the time. He did well enough in his classes that teachers neither picked on nor exalted him in front of other students. It helped a great deal that they only usually had classes with their other Housemates. On the rarer occasions they had to share, the classes were too busy and chaotic for the students to usually worry about what the others were doing.

Usually.

While Eddie did tend to get along fine if he ignored other students and the taunts of his bullies, one other student in particular drove him crazy.

Richie Tozier.

Whenever Eddie saw he was in double classes with the Slytherins, he’d audibly groan and mentally prepare himself for the rest of the day. There wasn’t anything particularly malicious about Richie, but he got on Eddie's last nerves. It seemed as if his mission in life was to make himself the center of attention and, for some odd reason, very much enjoyed dragging Eddie there with him.

“Cute, cute, cute!” Richie would tease, pinching Eddie’s cheek as he sat next to him in _every damn class they had together._

Most of the classrooms had partner desks, and since Eddie was the third wheel, he’d often get stuck with someone else while Mike and Ben partnered up. They never did it to him on purpose; he usually just felt they did better in their classes working together, so he’d take a seat by himself. 

Since Richie seemed to frighten away even his own Housemates, he’d slide into the desks with Eddie every time they found themselves in a class together. He’d never _shut up_ or stop bothering Eddie throughout the two hours they’d spend in double-classes. 

Even worse than being annoyed, Eddie couldn’t help but feel sick to his stomach when Richie would call him things like _cute_ or blossom orchids in the palm of his hand and give them to Eddie with a cheeky grin. As much as Eddie couldn’t deny he kind of liked those things, it was embarrassing.

As inclusive as Witches were, their world wasn’t any kinder to people like Eddie, people who were…

Well, Eddie soon enough learned not to stare at other boys for too long in his classes.

Plus, it was impossible to tell what Richie’s intentions were when most of his gabbing was in jest or jokes.

Eddie had hoped by the time he passed his OWLs that he may have some kind of sense of what he’d want to do in the magical world after graduation. Unfortunately, he was entering his last year at Hogwarts and still didn’t have a damn clue. He’d managed to pass enough exams to have a schedule with a good variety of classes for his last year, but his Head of House didn’t seem to be helpful enough to guide him in the right direction. 

It wasn’t her fault; she’d done an excellent job guiding them from terrified little preteens to terrified adults (and in Eddie's case, still little). Mike and Ben were thrilled to leave her office every time with a better sense of purpose. Eddie only felt like a disappointment.

Now he sat and stared at the 7th-year class schedules in anxious anticipation. The classes were so small now, with students now able to drop classes they no longer needed, most of them weren’t divided by Houses anymore. Only four courses were still full enough to be divided, and they’d still be sharing with at least one other House.

“DADA with Gryffindor first thing,” Mike told him as he and Ben sat down; Mike was always extra early to breakfast. “Then we have a free period.”

“All of us?” Ben asked, sitting across from Mike next to Eddie.

“Yeah, they’re leaving it open for Apparation lessons in the Spring for, uh… students that still need to pass.”

“I’m not gonna bother,” Eddie huffed, ignoring the look Mike was giving him. “I can’t hop six meters without literally losing my feet.” Eddie wouldn’t even _mention_ his last attempt at apparating, when he had left parts of the _bones_ in his arm behind and had to get them regrown. The health wing had him in an arm sling and temporary cast for the rest of the day while he moaned in pain during his afternoon classes.

“Oh, you know who will be in DADA with us?” Mike piped up again.

“Bev Marsh,” Ben said immediately.

“Another Gryffindor. The new Head Boy,” Eddie said, realizing who Mike was talking about.

“Who got it?” 

“Denbrough,” Mike shrugged, shaking his head. “Should be interesting.”

“His little brother is in our House, isn’t he?” Eddie asked. “Third year?”

“Second,” Mike told him. “Yeah, Georgie. Cute kid. Very energetic.”

“Oh, Eddie,” Ben said, looking like he was trying to hide a smirk. “Guess what’s after the free period?”

Eddie audibly groaned, as was his MO at this point. “Yeah, I saw. Transfiguration with Slytherin today, Potions with them tomorrow. If Tozier even made it to NEWT levels to be in them.”

“I heard he passed everything top of Slytherin,” Mike smirked. “Little shit is loud, but he has the grades to back his mouth up.”

“It’s all the time he spends with Uris,” Eddie reasoned. “If I spent all my time with a Ravenclaw, I’d be top of class, too.”

“Gee, thanks Eddie,” Ben chuckled.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Eddie said apologetically. 

“Well, Uris will be in Gen Studies with us,” Mike said. “You can butter him up in there.”

“Ha!” Eddie shook his head. “Yeah, the class we learn maths and taxes. Exactly what I need to worry about.”

There was still a bit of time before their first class started, and Eddie realized he had to return to the dorm to grab a textbook, one which he didn’t even do the preliminary reading for. Embarrassed enough that he wasn’t going to catch up before his professor certainly called on him in class, Eddie reluctantly ran back up to the dorms on his own.

Halfway back upstairs to get to his first class, Eddie had another annoying realization, that he had meant to use the restroom up in his dorm but forgotten in his hurry. Now he was stuck in the halls, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walked awkwardly trying to find a bathroom before he ended up being late for his class.

Eddie froze before entering the bathroom he finally found. A plaque just outside the door read _Girls’ Room_ , but he hasn’t ever seen any gender or sex designated areas in the school before. Not even their dorms were separate, simply all sharing a large master bedroom with the other students in their year. 

Too desperate to think too hard about it, Eddie figured it was probably not terribly important. None of the other restrooms were designated, and this one just looked… old. Without a second thought, Eddie walked right on in.


	2. Is That a Raincoat?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind words! 
> 
> I present our first full chapter of the Hogwarts AU!
> 
> I am hoping November motivates me enough and we can get a chapter rolling every week for all my chapter fics, but I can't make any promises! Please know your kindness always inspires me and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> tw/cw: mentions of menstruation, blood, homophobia

The faucet groaned before expelling ice cold water, sputtering violently on Eddie’s robes. It seemed as though no one had used this sink in a terribly long time and Eddie shuttered to think about what kinds of _things_ were living in the water he was scrubbing his hands under. At least now that he had finally used the restroom and had enough time to get to class he could relax, and he turned off the water, looking up at himself in the mirror.

_Not very impressive,_ he thought to himself, pulling the skin down under his eyes to look at the protruding red veins in his irises. He looked so terribly sleep deprived; the dark bags of skin under his eyes were almost as dark as his jet-black hair, which had once neatly been combed back every day until he got tired of taming his quiff. Any attractive features he felt he _might’ve_ had were fading with his boyish looks; his light freckles were slowly fading under his tan skin, his once cherub cheeks now thinned to match his frail little body. More embarrassing still was that he didn’t even think he looked older as he aged, just… _worse._

“Not like you’re gonna date anyone, anyway,” he muttered to the reflection of his sad, brown eyes staring back at him, giving his hands a good shake before turning to leave the restroom.

Something, however, caught his attention before he could reach the door. In the grim, gray restroom, a flash of bright yellow appeared in Eddie’s peripherals. It was in a shower stall, crammed into the corner and Eddie absurdly thought for a moment that it might’ve been a yellow raincoat. That was silly, of course - _Why would someone wear a raincoat in he shower?_ \- and he realized as he approached that it was simply a hooded bathrobe in bright Hufflepuff yellow, much like one Eddie had up in his room.

But even if one wasn’t wearing a raincoat in the shower, why was a Hufflepuff coming all the way down here to have a shower and - _Why was there a shower here, anyway?_ The only restrooms that normally had any bathing areas outside of the dorms were the Prefect restrooms and the Quidditch dressing rooms.

Eddie picked it up, though he wasn’t entirely sure why - what, was he planning on returning it upstairs? He was sure it could’ve been magicked back to their dorms by staff who found it. Something was drawing him over to the robe, as if it were some incredibly important thing. He gingerly picked it up, only to see that the underneath of it was stained with blood.

Panic rushed through Eddie’s veins like ice, freezing him where he stood. This wasn’t something uncommon - students hurt themselves all the time. Perhaps it had even been - and Eddie wasn’t entirely familiar with them, so he couldn’t be _too sure_ , but - it _could’ve_ been some poor students menstruation abruptly showing up, which is why the robe was disregarded in such a fashion. But something, _something_ deep in Eddie’s bones was telling him this was wrong -

And it was telling him to _run._

“What the hell…” he finally got out, disliking the way his voice echoed against the stone and tile around him. He tightened his grip on the yellow bathrobe and lifted it up so he could bring it to a teacher, or maybe a Prefect, turning on his heel to finally leave -

_Someone else is in here._

For a brief moment, Eddie saw some horrific, grotesque man - _or creature_ \- staring at him through the mirror across from him above the sinks. With rotting flesh and piercing yellow eyes, Eddie could hear it groan and raise a putrid limb, and the noise it made was _coming from behind him,_ and Eddie could see it there in the mirror _standing behind him,_ making Eddie yelp and run out of the bathroom as fast as his little legs could take him.

Logic was lost on him; despite having just seen that nothing had been next to him by the showers, the image of the man in the mirror jump-started his panic again. It wasn’t a second after Eddie burst out of the bathroom door that he collided with someone in the hallway, both of them crashing to the ground.

“I’m sorry!” Eddie cried, immediately scrambling to his feet so he could turn and look behind him. Nothing was chasing him.

“Holy hell, are you ok?” the girl he tackled asked, getting up beside him.

Eddie turned and saw he had just ran into Beverly Marsh, a Gryffindor girl whom he had gotten along with over the years but never really made a real connection with.

“I’m - I’m fine, I just - someone was in the restroom and I - ”

“Hold on,” she said firmly, pulling out her wand and walking straight into the bathroom.

Eddie was positive his face had flushed as red as Beverly’s hair - _how did he forget his wand?_ His first instinct was to _run,_ after seven years of practicing magic and learning how to defend himself with it. His shaking hand - the free one that wasn’t still clutching the bathrobe - snaked into his robe and pulled out his pale reed wand, looking down at it shamefully.

Coward.

“No one is in there,” Beverly assured him after she came out, pocketing her own wand again. “What’s that?”

“It’s - uh, a bathrobe. It’s covered in blood.” His voice was shaking. How pathetic.

“Got ya spooked, huh?” she said gently, coming over to inspect the robe in his hand. “Oh shit. Denbrough’s kid brother is in your House, right?”

“Wha - oh, the Head Boy, Bill? Yeah, he - Georgie is in my House.”

“It’s his robe,” Beverly said, eyeing it carefully. “Name is on the tag. Oughta let Bill know, he gets super protective with his baby bro. He’s in DADA with us. C’mon, I’ll walk with you.”

Eddie nodded along while Beverly chatted with him the entire way to class. He was still embarrassed and wondered what the hell he had even seen in there. 

“Maybe it was one of the ghosts?” Beverly suggested, shrugging. “Some of them are pretty gnarly looking. New ones show up all the time.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Eddie lied, knowing damn well he saw a solid, colorful figure staring back at him. The school only had one poltergeist, as far as he knew, so that didn’t seem likely, either. 

“Hey, Bill!”

Denbrough looked up from his desk, his auburn fridge flopping against his brow. The classroom around him was slowly starting to fill out. “Hey, Bev.”

Beverly nudged Eddie in the ribs, startling him a little and forcing a little yelp out of his mouth. Nothing had ever happened between the two of them, and Bill had never been particularly popular before being announced as Head Boy this year, but there was something always so intimidating about Bill that made Eddie nervous, like a celebrity crush. After Bill had practiced his speech in classes to better word his spells and stopped stuttering so much, it only made him more daunting to speak to. Without really saying a word, he thrust the bathrobe towards Bill, who looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. 

“I’m in Gryffindor; that’s not mine.”

_God, everyone in this school must think I’m stupid._ “I - I know that. It’s - It’s Georgie’s. Your brother.”

Bill frowned, getting up finally to take the robe from Eddie’s hands.

“He found it in a bathroom on the 4th floor,” Bev told him. “Georgie doing ok?”

“I haven’t seen him since the feast last night,” Bill said slowly. “I - I’ll be right back. Let Professor Hale know for me?”

“Sure thing, Billy.”

Eddie sat himself in the empty desk that was next to where Ben and Mike were sitting, neither of whom had noticed Eddie’s presence yet. Before he could say anything, Beverly sat herself down right next to him.

“You feeling ok, Kaspbrak?”

“Yeah, I just… feel a little queasy, that’s all.”

“Did you eat any candy today?”

“Uh, candy?” Eddie asked curiously. “Like what?”

“Supposedly Uris and Tozier are making these candies to get people sick,” Beverly grinned. “If they hand you anything, don’t eat it.”

“Why the hell would they do that?”

“Marketing. They’re planning on selling them so students can get out of classes.”

“That’s - ” Ingenious. How the hell do they think of these things? “So stupid.”

“It would’ve been nice to have had one goddamn teacher in this class for longer than a year, right?” Beverly sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Supposedly no one has lasted longer than a year for _centuries._ Have you heard anything about Hale yet?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Who was your favorite?”

“Favorite DADA teacher? Oh, uh… I don’t know, the vampire was pretty cool our first year.”

“Professor Ichor! Yeah, he was really fun. It was weird having DADA classes in the dungeons, but considering he was hospitalized for sunlight exposure... ”

It was so easy talking to Bev, enjoying the conversation before their new professor showed up and silenced them all. Eddie quickly turned to see Ben was staring over at him incredulously; to be fair, Eddie had never really sat or partnered with Beverly before. However, he had never seen Ben blush so furiously under his blond locks.

Whether or not they would enjoy the new teacher, they weren’t going to find out today. Not several minutes into his introductory lecture, Professor Hale was interrupted by the booming voice of their Deputy Headmistress.

“Attention all students. We are deeply sorry to interrupt your first day of lessons, but we kindly ask you to report back to your dorms immediately. New students, please see your House Prefects or staff if you need assistance. Thank you.”

That icy cold feeling was back in Eddie’s body and it was making him sick. Cheering could be heard echoing from around the castle, likely from students just happy to already have time off from lectures. Mike and Ben immediately saw the terror in Eddie’s face and kept him tucked between them as they walked back to the Hufflepuff dorms. They had both grown to be so much larger than him, he often felt like a lost child stuffed between his protective parents.

Professor Sprout, their Hufflepuff Head of House, cast a wordless spell in the Common Room, which seemed to confirm that no one - besides Georgie Denbrough - was missing from their group of students. Just one less of seventy Hufflepuffs were all accounted for, which was enough to calm her down from hysterics she was experiencing when they all arrived.

No one really understood what was going on, but students were asked to ‘keep an eye out’ for Georgie, whatever the hell that meant. Terrified of getting into conversation with Mike and Ben about it, Eddie excused himself to the Owlery Tower, knowing he had almost two hours before needing to be in Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. He had never known the staff to become so frantic over a missing student before, and visiting Wini always cheered Eddie up.

Not all of the students had their own owl, but many of them had other creatures that liked to pick up the mail for them should an owl not be available in the morning. Eddie’s tortie cat usually enjoyed hanging out in the Owlery so she could watch them fly around and she was there to greet him right when he walked in.

“Hey Wini,” he chuckled as she immediately jumped up into his arms. She meowed loudly at him as always; whenever he was in the room, she talked to him constantly, almost as much as -

“Spaghetti!”

Eddie yelped, dropping Wini down immediately and turning to see Richie Tozier leaning against one of the mail posts, his brown curls looking almost tawny in the sunlight peeking through the windows, blue eyes sparkling with delight at the sight of Eddie. He was standing next to Stan Uris, who looked like he was trying to wrap up a package to send out; Stan’s normally neat black curls were disarray and he looked frustrated.

“What the hell did I tell you about calling me that?” Eddie scowled at Richie, hoping he didn’t look as pleased to see him as he felt while picking Wini up apologetically to continue petting her; she continued to purr contently as if nothing had happened. “I’m not even Italian.”

“What should I start calling you then?” Richie grinned. “My little Polish kielbasa?”

“Definitely not,” Eddie sighed. “Are you sending out a package of those sick candies?”

Stan froze, narrowing his eyes up at Eddie. “Who’s asking?”

“Me, obviously.”

Richie chuckled, but Stan rolled his eyes and simply carried on with what he was doing, marking the package with some address he was trying to hide from Eddie’s view.

“So, what are your theories?” Richie asked.

“About what?”

“Denbrough,” Richie said. “They cast a revealing spell and he’s not anywhere on the Hogwarts property. Weird, right?”

“Wait, really? How do you know?”

“Professor Padrino told us. He doesn’t pussyfoot around the Slytherins.”

“He’s probably dead,” Stan said calmly, picking a large owl to take his package for him.

“Why the hell would you say that?” Eddie snapped.

“Hey, relax, he’s joking,” Richie told him, ignoring how Eddie flinched when he patted him on the shoulder. “Stan’s humor is not suited for all tastes.”

“Someone being dead isn’t _funny._ ”

“I know he’s not dead,” Stan replied simply.

“No, you don’t,” Eddie told him heatedly. “So don’t say something like that.”

“People don’t die at Hogwarts,” Stan shrugged, starting to open a letter he took from a tiny, hyperactive owl. “He’s fine. He probably went into the forest on a dare or something stupid. You know how it is.”

“No, I don’t,” Eddie muttered.

“No, of course not,” Richie cooed. “You would never step a foot out of line, would ya Eds?”

“Do not _call me_ that, Tozier. Uris, what are you doing?”

Stanley’s head shot up immediately from the letter he was reading. “Huh?”

“Are you just opening random people’s letters?”

For some reason, Stanley’s cheeks blushed red, shoving the envelope in his pocket. “No, I don’t. Mind your business.”

“That’s not your mail,” Eddie retorted, but Richie began gently pushing him towards the door. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Take a walk with me,” Richie said simply, draping his arm around Eddie’s shoulder. “I’ll see you at lunch, Stanny.”

Eddie still pouted while Richie led them back outside. He was happy to have Wini, though, as her purring in his arms was calming his nerves about the incident he experienced this morning. For some reason, too, it was also comforting to feel Richie so close.

“Do you really think he’s ok?” Eddie asked quietly, squeezing Wini tighter to his chest as he allowed Richie to walk them around.

“I’m sure he is,” Richie said, giving Eddie’s shoulder a good squeeze. “You want some candy?”

“You’re kidding me right?”

“I swear it won’t make you sick,” Richie chuckled, pulling out some green looking taffy in a transparent wrapper. “You look a little ill; this will actually help. It’s one of the anecdotes for our Skiving Snacks.”

“For fuck sakes,” Eddie groaned, rolling his eyes but unable to stop the smirk on his face. He shifted Wini a bit so he could hold her in one arm and take the candy from Richie after he unwrapped it for Eddie. Immediately after popping it in his mouth and feeling it dissolve, he felt a wave of relief. “Whoa…”

“Feeling better?”

“How the hell do you guys make this stuff? Do you not have anything better to do with your time?”

“What could be better than helping out our fellow students? This is a _selfless_ act, Spaghetti-man.”

Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle at that, thinking about how often Richie landed his ass in detention for these so called ‘selfless’ acts over the years. In fairness, though, he never did rat Stan out, even if Eddie knew Stan was the mastermind of at least half of their shenanigans and pranks. At one point, Eddie remembered voicing his annoyance at one particular prank they pulled which locked down the entire 3rd floor while the teachers attempted to dismantle the weird swamp that had started to grow in the corridors. It was Ben that reasoned that they were just trying to make the other students laugh which, Eddie could now suppose, wasn’t a terrible thing.

“Whose idea was the candy?”

“Mixed effort. Stan initially thought about something to help students skip and I thought of using sweets; something inconspicuous, you know? To my parents extreme displeasure, I have a wicked sweet tooth,” he added with a wink down at Eddie. Eddie could feel his cheeks blushing furiously.

“Why, uh, why would your parents care?” Eddie asked casually.

“They’re dentists.”

Eddie stopped in his tracks, stumbling forward a bit when Richie didn’t immediately stop with him and accidentally wacked him on the head with his arm. “Your parents… are both _Muggles?_ ”

“Uh, yeah?”

“But… you’re in Slytherin. How is that possible?”

Richie’s smile disappeared. “Not everyone in Slytherin is pureblood. And we’re not all racist, bloodist assholes, thanks.”

His voice was very strained, and Eddie couldn’t help but feel _bad,_ because he wasn’t one for perpetuating stereotypes, but he truly had thought Slytherin never allowed Muggle-borns in.

“I’m - I’m sorry.”

“S’fine,” Richie mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Eddie assured him, stepping closer. “Trust me; as the laughing stock of the entire school, I get it.”

Thankful that Richie’s smile returned, Eddie smiled back up at him. 

“You know, honey badgers actually eat snakes?” Richie told him. “They also have no qualms about attacking lions in the wild. Safe to bet they’d fuck up an eagle if they ever saw one.”

“Uh, ok?”

“Point is, don’t let the school make you feel worthless. Powerful things can come in small packages,” Richie said, pulling out one of his sick-inducing candies and winking again. “Yellow is a nice color on you, though. Wish I could see you in the Quidditch uniforms; bright canary head to toe.”

“I might… I might try out this year,” Eddie confessed. It was weird, because he hadn’t even told Mike or Ben yet, but he felt he had made the right decision immediately by the broad grin on Richie’s face.

“Eddie Kaspbrak, the Flying Spaghetti Monster for team Hufflepuff! Excellent! Why the hell did you wait until your last year?”

“I, uh… couldn’t afford a good broom and we need our parents permission and stuff, so…”

“Ah,” Richie nodded. “Technically, you turn eighteen before the first game, which is the due date for the permission slip. Good call, Kaspbrak.”

“How do you know my birthday?”

“It’s the same every year, isn't it?” Richie laughed awkwardly; his pale cheeks blushed a little under the sunlight. “November 3rd? Professor Sprout sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to you with the singing Daffodils our 4th year when we shared Herbology together.”

“Oh _god,_ you remember that?” Eddie giggled, embarrassed in a strangely delighted way. 

“Well, _anyway,_ uh… I would love to cheer you on during the first match,” Richie said sheepishly, digging the heel of his shoe into the grass. “The first Hufflepuff match isn’t until December though, so… maybe we could - we could do something before then?”

“Are you asking me to hang out with you?” Eddie asked incredulously.

“Kind of,” Richie murmured more quietly. “Well, I - I was _hoping_ we could - hang out _alone_ sometime. Like, uh - on a - on a date.”

Eddie accidentally gripped Wini so hard she startled and leapt from his arms, leaving him standing there gaping at Richie. “Is this… a joke? I never know when to take you seriously.”

“No, it’s not a joke,” Richie said rather earnestly. “I know it was stupid to wait until our last year, but… they don’t… really like that here.”

Eddie knew what Richie meant. In fact, one of the main reasons Eddie personally felt they kept the dorms gender neutral was so that students wouldn’t be excused from hooking up with their ‘ _same sex’_ classmates. _Well, it’s not like you were stuck alone with all boys for seven years! You can sneak around with the girls like a ‘normal’ boy would want to!_ At least, that’s how Eddie imagined it in his head.

Bloodlines were extremely important to Witches. You couldn’t count on Muggle-borns randomly popping up to keep the population going, could you? So it was passively encouraged for them to wed and have as many magical children as possible. Since two men couldn’t do that…

“I would… actually really like that,” Eddie whispered quietly, despite no one else being around. He braced himself for Richie to guffaw in his face, but instead felt his heart flutter pleasantly when Richie beamed back at him.

“Yeah? I won’t be too annoying?”

“Well, I didn’t say that,” Eddie chuckled. “But, where, uh… where do people go to…?”

“Where do you want to go? I know a secret passageway or two to get into Hogsmeade. We can talk about how great you’ll look straddling some long wood. For your Quidditch tryouts!” he added when Eddie’s jaw dropped at him.

“Oh my _god._ ”

“I’m kidding!” Richie assured him, still calming down from his joke. “Seriously though, let me know when Hufflepuff tries out so I can hold up obnoxious signs in the bleachers. Did you end up getting a broom?”

“Uh, sort of. It’s almost finished.”

“Finished?” Richie asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Yeah, I - nothing. It’s stupid.”

“I just asked you on a date after _six years_ of flirting with you. Between the two of us, you’re not the stupid one.”

Eddie smiled at that, but he started walking again towards the castle, letting Richie walk by his side; Wini had run off to chase butterflies.

“So, I’ve been kind of, uh… making my own broom.”

“Wait, how is that possible? You just picked the practice up?”

“It’s not that bad,” Eddie shrugged. “You need to make sure you get the right wood with the magical properties for flying charms, a few potions to soak it in and coat the bristles. Actually, the broom seems to sync with the rider better if it’s the same wood as his wand, so I made it out of reed and stained it. It’s almost done, I just need to set a few anti-jinx spells on it and take it for a test fly.”

“That’s… Eddie, I don’t think you realize how incredible that is. That’s, like… incredibly intricate. People train to do that for _years_ and some of these hundred-galleon brooms still come out like shit.”

“It’s nothing…”

“It’s not _nothing,_ that’s amazing. Seriously. Where is it now? Can I see it?”

“Uh, it’s in my dorm, but, I can… I can bring it on our - our thing.”

“ _T_ _hing,_ ” Richie intoned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You know what I mean,” Eddie mumbled, smiling up at him again. “Thank you though, Rich, that’s… really nice of you to say that stuff.”

“It’s not nice, it’s just true,” Richie shrugged. “Oh, hey! You’re in class with me at 11, right? Hopefully we can carry on like normal and Georgie will be snug as a bug in a rug in the dorms with you later.”

_How the hell could I forget about Georgie already?_ Eddie thought shamefully. It must have been the taffy Richie gave him, dissipating all of his anxieties and relaxing him enough to agree to the date much easier than he probably would have under other circumstances.

“I really hope he’s ok… we - ” But he stopped, unsure if he should tell Richie about the bathrobe. It was probably best not to, not unless there was something to genuinely worry about, especially when the most important people to tell already knew and something was being done about it. “I’m sure he’s fine. You know how his brother Bill is. I don’t know Georgie that well, but maybe he’s rebelling to get under his brother's new Head Boy skin?”

Richie laughed heartily, clapping Eddie on the back. “I wouldn’t put it past him if he did. Pretty brilliant to already have the whole school alert for you by your second year. Gotta give that kid props.”

Eddie nodded in silent agreement, letting Richie keep an arm over his shoulders as they walked back to the castle. Eddie tried to keep his mind on other things, knowing he should be worried about his classes and his broomstick, not some silly prank pulled by a twelve-year-old. Even if he couldn’t help but hope that whatever silly thing Georgie had done that he would be back soon. Because that’s probably all it was.

After all, Stanley was right; no one dies at Hogwarts.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I adore Eddie's car obsession and his trying to build a Soapbox Racer (I love me a mechanic Eddie that collected hot wheels as a kid), I thought I'd try it out in Hogwarts fashion! Broomsticks! 
> 
> I hope you guys like how I'm blending some of the aspects of both book universes, and don't mind the descriptions of the characters being closer to that described in the book. (The only book canon I no longer accept is Eddie's gray eyes. He looks like Anthony Perkins and therefore he gets those beautiful Ransone/Perkins doe eyes). 
> 
> I'll be bouncing between fics as I write, but I will see you soon! :)


	3. Suit of Armor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned and hope everyone is doing well!
> 
> TW/CW (include spoilers): mentions of blood, homophobic slurs, mentions of past abuse, death

*********

Somehow, despite the strange events that occurred Monday morning, Eddie found himself in an awfully good mood during the week. Stanley was probably right, after all; no one dies in Hogwarts, and the younger brother of the Head Boy may have some rebellion in him that had not been seen by Bill Denbrough. It wasn’t outlandish to think that he had snuck off to Hogsmeade or was playing tricks in the castle somewhere.

Even if the empty bed in the dormitories sent a chill down Eddie’s spine when he looked at it.

A giddiness was possessing Eddie, something he had not thought would come from any interactions with Richie. He had assumed Richie just liked to _pester_ him, but the more he contemplated their interactions over the years, the more he felt stupid. Obviously - _obviously_ \- there was something there. Now that Eddie was paying attention, he could see affection behind the mischievous twinkle in Richie’s eyes during their classes together.

As long as this all wasn’t just some huge set up to a joke.

Eddie couldn’t help but have that thought intrude him every now and then. After all, Richie and Stan had been notorious for tricking people. It was never malicious, though, so Eddie had to calm himself and keep reminding his paranoia that this would have been a very _cruel_ joke to play.

They hadn’t really picked a day or time yet for their date, so Eddie was anxious to see Richie in their afternoon class. Bill Denbrough was staring daggers at the back of Eddie’s head during their entire Muggle Studies lesson, so when the bell rang, Eddie bolted out the door without even waiting for Ben. Besides, all he and Mike had wanted to talk about their Patronus Exam at the end of the year, something Eddie was just _not_ prepared to even think about, given how difficult they were told it would be.

Since Richie had spent his time in his dorm room after lunch on Tuesday before their last Alchemy class, Eddie assumed he had done the same today. He walked down towards the dungeons, where he was sure Richie would be coming from. When he rounded a corner, his face lit up to see Richie coming down the hall towards him. Eddie was so distracted that he ended up tripping on his own foot and falling straight to the floor on top of his school bag. Something crunched under his hands as he collapsed on his belongings, bits of glass from his ink bottles sticking out of the fabric. 

“I can only hope your Quidditch tryout goes so smoothly,” Richie said above him. It lacked his usual charm, but Eddie supposed the moment was just awkward. He did not even bother helping Eddie up, staring down at him with an eyebrow cocked.

“Ha fucking ha,” Eddie bit, clambering up to his feet.

Richie blinked, his face going blank for a moment. It was strangely absent of emotion, and it was unsettling to look at down here in the dark. His eyes looked down at Eddie’s hands and Eddie followed his gaze. Ink and blood stained his hands.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Richie said quietly, gesturing Eddie to follow him down the hall.

Eddie supposed the Slytherin dorms were down here somewhere, since he had usually seen many of them disappear down these halls with the Hufflepuffs, making a turn in the opposite direction at the bottom of the stairs after dinners. Eddie almost thought that Richie knew where the Hufflepuff dorms were, taking him down the hallway he would normally go towards with the large portraits of food, but he had brought Eddie into one of the bathrooms instead.

Eddie walked to the sink and turned on a faucet, but he just let the water run and stared at his hands. He wanted to ask Richie about their date and had been wondering how he was going to do that during their class. But now that they were alone… 

“Are you just going to stand there?” Richie’s voice interrupted his thoughts rather harshly, making Eddie jump a little.

“When did you want to have our date?” Eddie asked nervously, finally beginning to pick glass from his skin. “The Quidditch tryouts are on Saturday and I think Hufflepuff is scheduled pretty early - ”

The tile and stone echoed with Richie’s laughter, high-pitched and cold; nothing like the warm chuckle Eddie was used to. He looked up into Richie’s reflection and froze at the sneer on Richie’s face.

“Kaspbrak, you thought I was fucking serious about that?”

Nervousness spread throughout Eddie’s body, feeling like something in his chest dropped down into his stomach abruptly. He wanted to look away from Richie’s eyes in the mirror, but for some reason he couldn’t. 

“I - I just thought - ”

“You just thought?” Richie laughed again; it made Eddie shiver, even with the steam from the faucet so close. “Thought what? Kaspbrak, how _kindly_ do you think the other students would take seeing the little Hufflepuff faggot out on a date?”

The slur threw Eddie off, sending his mind back several years to a smaller version of himself cowering under his mother’s gaze. Him, clutching his Hogwarts letter close to his chest while she spat at him, _“It doesn’t make you special. They don’t want faggots in that school.”_

It had been very abrupt; his mother going from babying him as a delicate thing until the moment she understood all of his childhood oddities. As if a switch was flipped inside her head, suddenly Eddie was _dangerous_ and _unnatural_ and she just _wouldn’t have it._

This, too, seemed to come out of nowhere. Richie had always been teasing, but never _cruel,_ and Eddie’s eyes stung at the harshness of his words, words that seemed to echo against the walls in Eddie’s skull. But he still couldn’t _move._

“We don’t have to go,” Eddie whispered, almost pleadingly. “I’m - I’m sorry, just - just please don’t tell anyone about it. I’m sorry I - I - ”

“ - was a dumb piece of shit thinking some guy would actually date him?” Richie finished for him, chuckling again. At that point, Eddie finally had to look away, but suddenly Richie had a grip in his hair, yanking his head back roughly. “You’ve still got your mama's stench all over you, Kaspbrak. You think having magic stops you from being the pathetic, fragile little shit your mommy always knew you were?”

“Rich - _Richie, stop!”_ Eddie gasped, reaching back to try to pry Richie’s hand off of him, but he was so incredibly strong - _how was he so strong?_ “Richie, get off!”

“What’s the matter, Wheezy? Can’t magic your way out? You’re just as sad as your father, you know that? No wonder he got stuck knocking up a stupid squib _whore.”_

“I said _get off!”_ Eddie shouted, feeling a tear finally escape as he shoved all his weight back onto Richie to push him off. Just as he did so, he swore in their reflection that Richie’s eyes were glowing yellow.

With a heavy _thump,_ Eddie felt his back hit the hard ground, knocking the wind out of his chest. He laid there gasping for air, taking entirely too long to realize no one was there with him anymore. Once he did though, he shot back up on his feet, spinning around to search his surroundings.

What. The. Fuck.

“Richie?” Eddie called out. 

No answer.

Eddie ran over to the sink, still running hot water that burned his skin as he dipped his hands under the faucet. His hands trembled despite the heat, not moving all that much and just watching the water wash the ink and blood down the drain. It was probably a whole minute before Eddie realized he was crying and sobbing.

He might as well snap his wand in half; it was useless to him in these situations, it seemed.

Was he losing his mind? This had been the second strange vision he had had of some figure that wasn’t really there, and yet - this time it was someone he _knew,_ someone he had _felt_ touching him. And what was with that shit this thing - _It_ \- had said to Eddie? Surely, it was all made up nonsense, since Eddie knew his father had to have been a Muggle, just as his mother was.

Except, it had been right about Eddie; as if reading Eddie’s very thoughts at that moment, it spoke to Eddie about the fears he had deep down and never spoke off. He hadn’t once mentioned his mother to anyone in this school, much less talked about how she treated him.

How the hell did it know?

Dark magic. Someone was playing a horrible trick and sending these strange earthly spectres to haunt people in the bathrooms. Maybe Georgie Denbrough had seen one, the one that stared at Eddie in the fourth floor bathroom, and it scared Georgie off somewhere. That was probably all this was. A sick trick.

Of course, that didn’t stop the ruminating thoughts in Eddie’s head, all the words that _thing_ had said to him, things Eddie knew deep down to be true. They were all things he had told himself constantly, after all. Hearing them said to his face only seemed to solidify the truth to them in Eddie’s mind.

Eddie wanted to see Richie. The _real_ Richie. The one that laughed to amuse Eddie, not torture him. That would make Eddie feel better. He was already late for class, so he hurried at the sink, dried his hands, and did his best to get to class with his torn up school bag cradled in his arms.

Alchemy only had a few other students in it besides Richie and Eddie, so there was no way that Eddie was going to be sneaking in quietly. With less than ten students total, it would be much too noticeable. Eddie stopped at the classroom door to drop his bag on the floor so he could fix his robes, still feeling a bit disheveled. However, he never even got a chance to enter the class, as he was yanked roughly from the collar of the button-up beneath his robes, forcing him to stumble away from the classroom. Even if he hadn’t just received a great shock, Eddie was too much of a pushover to stop this from happening, and Eddie allowed himself to be thrown down the hallway and look up at the Head Boy in bewilderment.

“What the _hell,_ Denbrough?” Eddie hissed once he gathered himself together.

“What did you find in the bathroom?” Bill demanded. His face was masked with rage, but Eddie could see the terror in Bill’s eyes.

“I just found the bathrobe,” Eddie told him. “I gave it to you, what more do you want from me?”

“That’s not all. Beverly just told me you saw someone in there. Who was it?”

“Wha - no one. I mean, not anyone real. Or alive, I should say. It was a ghost.”

“Ok, and? Ghosts can still be viable witnesses. What did they look like?”

Eddie bit his lip, knowing he was going to dig himself a hole. If he told Bill about the weird thing he had seen in the bathroom just _now,_ he was going to look crazy. “He - he looked sick. Like, boils and rotten skin and stuff. Pus and blood coming out of him. Yellow eyes.”

“Ghosts don’t have yellow eyes,” Bill said, narrowing his eyes. “Are you sure you know what you saw?”

“Look, I don’t know Bill,” Eddie explained desperately. “I saw it for like half a second before I left the bathroom. It was in the mirror. Beverly said nothing was in there after I left.”

Bill looked on at him thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “Can you show me?”

“What about class? I have Alchemy right now and I’m already late.”

“You’re with the Head Boy; they won’t say anything.”

Reluctantly, Eddie took Bill back to the fourth floor and to the hall where he had found Georgie’s bathrobe. It wouldn’t be so bad if someone else was with him, hopefully someone _real._ Upon entering the hall, though, Bill began to slow down, eyeing Eddie strangely.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To the girls’ room up here.”

“There aren’t any segregated bathrooms in the school anymore,” Bill scoffed. “Let alone here. There’s no bathrooms in this hall, just stairs.”

“Yes there is, it’s right… here…”

Eddie stared at a suit of armor along the wall, a wall where he had _sworn_ he had walked through three days ago to use the restroom. He moved up to it, running his hands along the stone, even sticking his arm behind the armored figure blocking the site where the door should’ve been.

“It was here,” Eddie explained, desperately patting at the wall now. “I swear, Bill, it was _right here.”_

“Why the hell can’t you just tell me where the bathroom is?”

“I’m _trying!”_ Eddie snapped, turning abruptly and knocking his shoulder into the suit's arm. In slow motion, the large thing teetered on it’s toes before tipping forward and crashing would a loud _CLANK!_ to the ground before Eddie could stop it. In his peripherals, he saw that Bill was about to take out his wand, likely to fix it upright again effortlessly, but Eddie’s eyes widened and shouted, _“Wait!”_

“Wha - ?” But Bill froze when he saw what Eddie was staring at.

An empty suit of armor should not be _bleeding._

“Go get someone,” Bill demanded.

But Eddie was already on his knees, gingerly touching the cold metal armor of the suit’s arm where most of the blood seemed to be leaking from. A instinctual thing in his gut brought him down here to the floor with this thing; certainly not _bravery,_ though possibly curiosity, a desperate _need to understand._

Why the hell was all of this happening?

It seemed as though the arm had been removed before and not properly placed back on, as it came off with just the slightest bit of pressure at the shoulder. 

With that, more blood came pouring out.

“Shit.”

“Get away from it!” Bill shouted, shoving Eddie away. “C-c-call someone, goddamnit!”

Eddie fumbled to pick himself up, pulling out his wand and casting out an alarm for help with it, hoping it would reach the ears of a teacher or somebody soon. 

“Bill?” Eddie squeaked, watching the back of Bill’s head as he heard Bill fuss with the armor. The metal clanged and groaned as Bill was doing _something_ to it before Eddie watched the helmet rolling along the stone floor, leaving a bloody trail behind it. The back of Bill’s neck went stark white, drained of all color.

“Eddie…”

“I called someone,” Eddie spat out nervously. “What is it?”

There were a few faces that Eddie Kaspbrak would never forget in his entire life. He would always remember his fathers face when looking down into the casket from his mothers arms. He’d always be haunted by the look on his mother’s face when she caught him casting magic for the first time, and again when she saw he was clutching the Hogwarts letter in his hands before - well, before she had completely lost her already batshit mind.

But Eddie would certainly never forget the look in Bill’s eyes at this moment; the day Bill realized he would never see his baby brother alive again.

“What’s happened?” came a voice behind Eddie.

“There’s - that’s - blood,” Eddie stammered stupidly, not able to take his eyes off of Bill.

Several figures moved past Eddie, all familiar but none of whom he could process at this moment as they gently pulled Bill aside, pushing him over to stand by Eddie. Bill’s hands were shaking, blood dripping from his fingertips. Eddie felt terrible for thinking at that moment, _At least he’s wearing red._

A sharp, searing sound made them both jump. Eddie craned his head around one of the professors - Professor Flitwick - to see him opening the suit through the back. A long, dark line split down the middle and the rest of it blossomed open like flower petals to reveal a heinous, wretched thing in its center. Eddie’s own Head of House, Sprout, bent down on the other side to turn the lump over, easily rolling it along the armless side until Georgie Denbrough’s pale, frightened face lit up under the candlelight.

_The dead shouldn’t be this small._

One of Eddie’s hands sprung to his mouth to stop the gasp near to escape him. That cold feeling was back, now planted deep and spreading thickly along his insides. 

“Y-y-you said - you said,” Bill stammered, his entire body trembling. “Y-you all s-s-said he wasn’t _here.”_

Sprout lifted her head up to look at Bill with great remorse before looking back down at Georgie’s body sadly. “Not his soul, dear.”

“Mr. Denbrough,” McGonagall said kindly (a rare thing from her). “Let me walk you to the Hospital Wing.”

“I’m not _leaving him.”_

“Kaspbrak,” said a soft voice in Eddie’s ear. He turned away from the arguing pair beside him to Sprout, who placed a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t we get you back to the dorms, yeah?”

“But…” Eddie began, but Sprout squeezed her hand just ever so firmly.

“Edward, c’mon. This isn’t your place.”

With that, Eddie nodded, letting Sprout lead him back down to the dungeons. Once they were down to the third floor and beyond, it was eerily quiet. Right now, other students would all have been in their classes. All Eddie could hear was his own rapid heartbeat and his shallow breathing, trying to steady it in and out to the rhythm of their echoing footsteps. 

“Doth mine eyes deceive me? Is Mr. Kaspbrak in trouble?”

Eddie looked up to see Richie in the hallway, moving out of their way to casually lean against the stone walls of the dungeon. 

“Not now, Tozier,” Sprout sighed. “Go back to class.”

“I have a free period,” Richie lied. Eddie knew Richie was supposed to be in Alchemy with him. 

“I can walk the rest of the way, Professor,” Eddie assured Sprout, wishing instead to be in the distracting company of Richie. “Thank you.”

“Do not hesitate to go to the Hospital Wing, Kaspbrak,” she told him firmly, eyes darting to Richie suspiciously. “I’m going to come see you later once we’re done - once we’re all - sorted out.”

“Ok,” Eddie said simply. It should have seemed odd to him that a teacher would leave him so suddenly, let him wander off after witnessing - after witnessing something like _that._ Alarm bells should have been ringing in Eddie’s head watching her leave, but in truth (he would realize much later) he was much too in shock to notice this peculiar thing.

“Why so glum, sugarplum?” Richie asked teasingly. It was light; cheerful, even. “I didn’t wanna stay in class without my partner there, so I took one of my candies and sprung out to look for you.”

It didn’t make sense. Georgie had been missing since Monday, at least, when Eddie found his bathrobe. The blood had been fresh then. How was the blood still so fresh? How had his body been able to bleed the way it did, as if his arm had just been removed from a live body moments before Eddie found him? After three days, one would assume the blood flow would simply _stop._ Unless, he had been alive these last three days, but…

Professor Sprout had said his soul had not been here. Could a living body exist without a soul? What the hell even _was_ a soul?

Nothing made sense, but Eddie couldn’t even think of how to articulate all of this to Richie right now. With all that happened today, Eddie couldn’t even find any words that seemed appropriate. He looked up and watched Richie’s face fall, realization that something was very wrong etched all over his face.

“Eds, hey,” Richie said softly. He approached Eddie slowly, but Eddie jerked away from him. Regret filled him almost immediately when he saw the hurt on Richie’s face. “Sorry. I just - are you ok?”

Eddie tried to open his mouth to say something - _anything._ Instead, a sob escaped him and his knees buckled under his weight. On instinct, Richie kneeled down to catch Eddie before he fell, his arms wrapping around him. Eddie felt ashamed, _weak,_ but Richie - the real Richie - simply held him firmly, keeping him from falling. 

He’d tell Richie about the dead body; just not right now. He’d even tell Richie about the vision he saw of him in the restroom; just not right now. Right now, he just clung to Richie like a lifeline, appreciating that Richie didn’t even need to know what was wrong, but comforted him anyway. For the brief moment, Richie’s arms seemed to magically make all the terrible thoughts in Eddie’s head disappear.


	4. Happy Under the Oak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proof that I do not forget my old fics! I just have a lot of trouble making the headspace for them!  
> I'm returning with something quite happy to get this ball back rolling<3
> 
> a possible cw/tw: gender questioning (not rude or with malicious intentions, but it's discussed a bit for a person who is unaware of trans and enby people existing!)

*******

The worst part about Georgie Denbrough’s death was the calm that continued through the school. After their initial concerns for Bill and Eddie, there didn’t seem to be much thought placed into their well-beings. Some of them told them to concentrate on their school work. Find a hobby. Which Eddie  _ did _ do, putting all of his concentration into his try-outs and somehow making it onto the Hufflepuff team.

Bill turned in his badge. The Head Boy position was given to Eddie Concoran in Ravenclaw.

“I don’t understand why they have a Head Boy or Head Girl,” Stan scoffed in the owelry. “Some of these students aren’t  _ either _ so I guess they’re just left out of the lottery?”

“What are you talking about?” Eddie mumbled, looking up from where Wini was resting on his lap. He had sunk down to the floor, waiting for Stan to check his mail. Lately, Mike and Ben had been  _ too _ worried about him, and the juxtapose between that and the callous attitude of the rest of the school was unnerving. Instead, he wanted to hang out with Richie, who was still in detention while Eddie waited with Stan.

“You know some students aren’t either a boy or a girl,” Stan went on, angrily ripping open some of his letters. “Not everyone fits into that binary bullshit, but they still gotta carry on dumb  _ traditions.” _

“I didn’t know that,” Eddie admitted softly, watching Stan curiously. “What about you?”

“I’m a boy,” Stan said immediately, though his cheeks flushed pink. “I wasn’t talking about me.”

“Why do you open that girl's letters, then?”

“Hey!” Stan shouted, making Eddie jump. Wini pounced off of his lap with a small  _ chirp. _ Stan calmed down, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes. “Sorry, I just… These aren’t for a girl.”

“Whose are they, then?”

“Mine,” Stan muttered, opening his eyes and tossing one in the rubbish sheepishly. “My parents don’t… they don’t call me Stan. They use my deadname.”

“Your… what?”

Stanley looked up at Eddie slowly. His eyes narrowed as if studying Eddie for a moment, like he was trying to figure something out. “I’m only telling you this because Richie says I can trust you. He’s the only one that knows besides the teachers. You got that?”

Confused but sincere, Eddie nodded. Stan sighed again and leaned against one of the pillars.

“So, I used to be… well, I guess I didn’t know what or who I was, I just knew something was different. When I was younger, my parents called me…  _ this,” _ he scoffed, throwing up his letter with a look of distaste. “It wasn’t the  _ name _ so much as it was everything that came with it, and what it meant. I didn’t know what I was feeling, I just knew I didn’t…  _ fit. _ I don’t know how to explain it.”

“That’s ok,” Eddie smiled encouragingly. “I can kind of understand that. I don’t fit in anywhere. I’m, like, the  _ leftovers _ of Hufflepuff, and that’s saying something.”

Stanley smiled sadly at him before continuing. “Well, one day, we were having breakfast when an owl came by to drop off a letter. My mom was annoyed, because she thought that they had sent it to the wrong place, but… it had our last name, so her and my father were confused. But once I looked at it, I knew…” Stanley’s eyes shined brightly, something like pride or relief on his face. “I saw the name for the first time. It was addressed to Stanley Uris. I had never even  _ met _ a Stanley before, but… once I saw it I knew… that was  _ me.” _ He chuckled a little bit, smiling down at his feet. “My parents didn’t… they didn’t understand, but the school assured me it was mine. I could come to the school as Stanley and that’s… you know, that’s how I thought my parents would finally see me, too, but…”

“But it’s  _ magic,” _ Eddie said. “How can they argue against it? The book puts our names down the second we’re  _ born.  _ That’s ancient. It’s  _ known.” _

“It doesn’t matter,” Stanley said sadly. “Magic, science… Muggles can’t figure it out, neither can we. My parents are very… old-fashioned. A lot of witches are.”

“Why should it matter?” Eddie said a little angrily. “You’re  _ you, _ what does it matter to them?”

Stanley was looking at Eddie in a way Eddie didn’t recognize. He realized that Stanley usually looked at him with an air of indifference, maybe sometimes even with contempt in their early years, when Eddie would constantly yell at him and Richie for pulling pranks. But right now, he was looking quite — dare Eddie think it? —  _ fond _ of him.

“I wish it didn’t matter. But I suppose it’s the same reason witches don’t like… you know. They don’t like magic folk like you or Richie.”

“And why is that?” Eddie couldn’t help but ask. He knew his  _ kind _ weren’t liked, but he was curious why Stan had thought so.

“You and Richie going to knock each other up?” Stanley asked bluntly, making Eddie blush. “I didn’t think so… Maybe a gay kid would only be accepted if he were like me, so that I could… breed…  _ ugh,” _ Stanley shuddered, looking disgusted. “No  _ thank you.” _

Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle and was happy to see Stanley smile back at him. “At least the teachers are helping, right? All the bathrooms are open, so no one can, you know… question it.”

“Some do…” Stan said quietly. “A lot of students would… let’s just say I would have an even  _ worse _ time in this school if they knew. I’ve seen the topic brought up enough to see how… unwelcome it is. Richie doesn’t care though… Richie only sees me the way I feel and that’s… I don’t know, kind of special. Knowing I wasn’t always Stanley didn’t change the way he saw me at all.”

“But you were always Stanley,” Eddie corrected. “You just didn’t know it yet.”

Stanley opened his mouth, but closed it quickly as he smiled brightly at Eddie. “You know what — you’re absolutely right. Thanks, Eddie.”

Not long after the owlery, Richie finally found his way to the grounds to meet with Eddie. Stan disappeared, leaving Eddie a bit confused, as he had assumed that the three of them would all be hanging out.

“Actually,” Richie said, pulling out a tiny bag, much like a coin-purse. “I was hoping I could ambush you for an impromptu date.”

“A date —  _ now?”  _ Eddie stammered.

“Why not?” Richie grinned, shoving his  _ entire arm _ through the four-inch sized bag and letting it disappear into the seeming nothingness. He bit his lip and Eddie watched in amazement as he yanked out an  _ entire picnic basket _ from the little bag.

“I have allergies,” Eddie said stupidly. 

“Oh,  _ fine,” _ Richie scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes. “We can go down to the kitchen then.”

“The kitchen? The school kitchen?”

“Where else?”

“How do you know where the kitchens are?”

“I’ll show you,” Richie winked, taking Eddie’s hand and leading him back up to the castle. Eddie knew he’d have to let go the second they would get close and risk being seen inside the stone walls by other students. So he savored the touch, his insides going all  _ gooey _ thinking about how warm Richie’s palm was, even if it was just a bit sweaty. It was chilly out, so the idea that Richie may have been  _ nervous _ sent a weird giddiness in Eddie that he wasn’t familiar with. 

“I should’ve taken advantage of Stan spilling secrets and asked him how long you’ve been pining over me,” Eddie teased.

“Stan was spilling secrets, huh?” Richie chuckled. His cheeks blushed slightly. “About me?”

“No, he might be too loyal for that,” Eddie smiled up at him. “Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have tried to pry him for intel, though.”

“I can’t believe you’d try and make Stan betray my trust like that,” Richie pouted. “When I have been nothing but honest with you.”

“Honest, huh? So how long have you been wanting to ask me out? For real?”

Richie’s fake-pout quickly transitioned into a genuinely sad sort of expression, almost sheepish. “Too long, actually… But, there’s probably a reason I’m not in Gryffindor…”

“So Slytherin’s will do anything to get what they want except actually ask? You just gotta… what, pester me for six years and pull my figurative pigtails like I’m a schoolgirl?”

“It worked, didn’t it? It’s about the long game. You certainly weren’t going to ask me out, either.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Eddie sighed, shaking his head. 

“Avoiding my question.”

“You’re kind of avoiding mine, too. You don’t exactly give me a straight answer about anything.”

Eddie felt his stomach drop when Richie’s hand slipped from his grasp and he had to remind himself that it was because they were approaching the castle, not because he was being a bother to Richie. He thinks.

“I was scared,” Richie admitted quietly, sticking his hands in the pockets of his robes as they walked into the open hall. “The only reason I finally asked you out was because of Stan and your friend Mike.”

“Mike? What did he do?”

“He offhandedly was telling Stan about how much you complain about me,” Richie smirked. “Stan’s pretty smart. He could tell that was just you making excuses to talk about me with your friends.”

“Ok, well… I  _ was _ genuinely complaining most of the time, to be fair. You’re quite the little shit sometimes, Tozier.”

“It appears you have a soft spot for little shits, then. Here you are, agreeing to continue a date with me.”

Panic was starting to creep into Eddie’s body. He couldn’t pinpoint  _ why _ until Richie started leading him down to the dungeons, making the turn down the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room… where Eddie had been led by something he  _ thought _ to be Richie not long ago.

“Where are you taking me, Rich?” Eddie asked, his voice shaking slightly. 

“Kitchens,” Richie said again. “Just down this hall with all the pictures of food.”

That made sense, Eddie realized, trying to will himself to calm down. He shot a look over at the large barrels in the corner of the portrait hall where his common room was hidden. Richie didn’t seem bothered with them, leading Eddie over to a large portrait of fruit that towered over them.

“Tickle the pear.”

“I — I  _ beg your pardon?” _

“Tickle the pear,” Richie repeated through a laugh. When Eddie stood there, cocking an eyebrow at Richie and refusing to do something so  _ silly, _ Richie just rolled his eyes and did it himself. 

To Eddie’s surprise, the pear in the portrait  _ giggled _ before shifting into the shape of a large doorknob. He watched on as Richie reached up (and honestly, Eddie would not have been able to reach it himself, anyway) and pulled the portrait open, revealing a small tunnel. Smells of spices and sweet things wafted through it, tickling Eddie’s senses and making his mouth salivate.

“Oh,  _ wow.” _

“I know,” Richie beamed, holding out his hand to help Eddie climb through. 

With a slight hesitation — the thought of the  _ evil  _ Richie still lurking in his mind — Eddie took his hand again. 

It was probably nothing he needed to worry about, anyway. 

The place was  _ bustling _ with creatures, most of which Eddie wasn’t familiar with. Richie walked through it like he owned the place, leaning on counters and casually talking to whomever or whatever like they were all old friends. Eddie was lost in thought, his eyes wandering around in amazement, when he realized Richie was snapping his fingers to get Eddie’s attention. He hurried over to where Richie was talking to a tiny elf.

“Eds, this is Winky,” Richie told him. “Winky, this is my dear friend, Eds.”

“Oh, am I not your friend now?” Winky huffed up at him in a squeaky voice. 

“Of course you are!” Richie said defensively. “What do you think, I just come in here and charm you for some pie?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” Winky said with a playful smirk. “Very nice to meet you, Eds.”

“Just Eddie, please,” Eddie corrected. 

“What can Winky whip up for us, Eds?”

“Oh, uh… I don’t want to impose…”

“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Winky said kindly. “If Richie brings you down, you’re ok in my book.”

“Wow, I think you  _ did _ charm them,” Eddie said. “There’s no way anyone likes you this much on purpose.”

It made Winky laugh, something airy and twinkly. “Ohhhhh, yes, I definitely like you.”

“So you just make friends with the staff down here?” Eddie asked Richie while Winky went to fetch some snacks for Richie’s basket. “Is it to make sure no one poisons you for all the shitty pranks you pull?”

“You know me too well,” Richie smiled, leaning over so that his body rested against Eddie’s. “Actually, it’s because my body refuses to gain weight despite my hearty three-course meals every day, so I need to come down for some extra calories to avoid withering away. Otherwise my mother would throw a fit.”

“And what do you give in return?”

“Is my good company not enough?”

Eddie raised his eyebrows questioningly, making Richie laugh again.

“Ok, ok. It depends, really. I’ve sort of built a lot of relationships down here. Like, see Sanguini over there?” Richie asked, gesturing to a pale-looking fellow overlooking some sauces. “He’s  _ very  _ fascinated in Muggle technology. So in exchange for some food, I’ll bring him some trinkets.”

“Wait… is he…?”

“A vampire, yeah. From Italy.”

“Was he born a vampire?”

“That’s impossible, Eds. What makes you think that?”

“Sanguine literally means  _ blood.  _ That’s either ironic or a terrible coincidence. That’s like being a werewolf named Lupus or something. He likes Muggle stuff?”

“Yeah, absolutely fascinated by it all. Can’t go near any of them for their own safety. Unfortunately, some of the more complicated ones don’t work inside the castle.”

“How come?”

“Magic interferes with some of it. Like, batteries? Forget it. Nothing will work if it needs batteries when there are so many Witches around.”

“I never knew that,” Eddie admitted. “But I’m also the dumbest seventh year, so that doesn’t surprise me.”

“You absolutely are  _ not.  _ I’m certain  _ most _ students don’t know that. I only know because Stan was looking it up in the library after I told him none of my dad's tools were working when I brought them here. You gotta stop doing that all the time.”

“Doing what?” Eddie asked.

“Putting yourself down like that,” Richie sighed. “Why do you always do that?”

“Well, for one thing, everyone knows Hufflepuff is the House of leftovers. Secondly—”

“Bullshit, but continue.”

_ “Secondly,” _ Eddie sighed. “I am always at the bottom of each class. I still feel like a Muggle, but  _ worse,  _ I… I can feel my mom telling me all the stuff that’s wrong with me all the time still, and I  _ know _ she’s right, even if I haven’t spoken to her since I got here…”

Richie tilted his head curiously, looking at Eddie with concern. “Look, I don’t know your mom, but that sounds like a bunch of garbage. You’re definitely  _ not _ the bottom of the class. Yeah, you can be a bit clumsy with your magic sometimes, but it’s usually when we have to do practical exams. You just get nervous in front of people.”

“I don’t think that’s the only thing…”

“Well, maybe you just need more practice with your confidence. What are you struggling most with?”

Eddie folded his arms, stubbornly wishing he didn’t bring this up at all. “I dunno, I guess… there’s a lot I probably need help with. Especially practical magic. That Patronus Charm that’s going to be on our final exams… and for what reason? Does it even serve a purpose? What the hell do I even use that for? It’s such a strong spell, but what does it even  _ do?” _

“Stan said it’s a pretty ancient spell,” Richie mused. “I suppose it’s kind of like the Standardized tests my sister needs to take in her Muggle school. Pointless, but  _ standard, _ for some reason. But!” he added, clapping Eddie on the back. “That doesn’t mean it won’t be good for practice! I can help you out!”

“Have you even tried practicing it yet, Richie?”

“I have.”

“And?”

“And it worked.”

“Stop lying.”

“I’m serious. Stan and I were both able to get it.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why would I lie?”

“Prove it.”

“Not in here,” Richie said. “Let’s get our food first.”

“Why not in here?”

“Too many distractions.”

“Then you can’t do it perfectly. Flitwick said that in order to master it, we have to be able to do it under the  _ worst _ circumstances.”

“I didn’t say I  _ mastered _ it,” Richie laughed. “I just said it worked when we tried, which is a  _ start. _ Have you gotten yours to work, even without distractions?”

“No, but…”

“Then we start with that,” Richie said firmly. “Gotta learn to sit on a broom before you can fly it, Kaspbrak.”

“Fine,” Eddie huffed again.

With a little help from Winky, they were able to shove the full basket of food back into Richie’s tiny bag. Eddie made a mental note to ask Richie how to do  _ that _ kind of magic, because charms were just  _ not _ his strong suit. He supposed that in order to make all the pranks and inventions they had, Richie had to have been pretty darn smart. Even if he put all of his talents into annoying people.

“Show me now,” Eddie demanded later, stretching his legs out on the picnic blanket after they finished their pie. They had gotten back to the topic of school and Eddie was itching to see what the charm would look like when done correctly.

“Not a very romantic date,” Richie replied.

“Think of it like you’re trying to impress me then.  _ Woo _ me with prowess.”

“Only if you promise to show me how you are with your wood,” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Please don’t call my broom that,” Eddie groaned.

“Fine,  _ fine.” _ Richie stood up, taking his wand out and taking a deep breath. “But I fully expect a private flying lesson from you in the near future.”

Eddie watched with fascination as Richie closed his eyes, appearing to be meditating for a minute. He couldn’t help but get lost just staring at him, admiring the strong line of his jaw, his high cheekbones, the contrast of his pale skin and dark curls. It was quite enjoyable just to see Richie be quiet and concentrate on something, watching the gears turning in Richie’s head. Or, perhaps he was finally watching the gears  _ slow down,  _ something Richie definitely didn’t show much in public. His hand twitched and Eddie looked down to his wand, noticing how strong it looked. It was a pale, ashy wood with intricate carvings like vines along the sides. 

Then, just as Eddie was about to ask if Richie was ok, he lifted his wand arm and shot it straight forward, eliciting a silvery light which burst from the tip of it. Eddie assumed that it would fade, especially since Richie had performed the spell wordlessly, but just a few feet away, the light solidified into the clear spectre of a small fox trotting along the grass.

“Holy  _ shit!” _ Eddie gasped in awe. “It’s so…  _ pretty.” _ At Eddie’s words, the fox glew only brighter, dancing around Eddie and making him giggle. He was tempted to reach out and pet it, so he reached a hand towards its small face. He expected it to feel maybe like nothing — or perhaps like the cold, clammy feeling of walking through a ghost. But as his fingers glided through, he felt a strong  _ warmth _ spread through his body, filling him with joy.

“Ok, ok,” Richie said, sounding almost out of breath. The fox disappeared, but Eddie was still grinning ear to ear.

“What even  _ is _ it?”

“I think it’s just…  _ happy,” _ Richie said. “The way they describe the spell and how you need to do it — it’s like channeling all the good stuff in your soul and projecting it out into the world as a thing.”

“Are they all foxes?”

“No. Stan’s is some kind of crane. It’s really pretty. He had it fly around his common room. Supposedly they match the person casting the spell.”

“Mine’s probably a dung beetle, then.”

“Hey, what did I tell you about self-deprecating?” 

“Fine,” Eddie sighed. “We’ll  _ see. _ I want to try. How do I do it? I remember the book said to think of something happy, but it’s hard to come up with anything on the spot.”

“Not just happy. It’s gotta be something  _ strong. _ Think the  _ happiest _ you’ve ever been.”

It was too embarrassing to say that he doesn’t  _ think _ he’s ever been that happy. But Eddie wanted to try.

He stood up and closed his eyes. Richie told him to concentrate and just focus on the spell. Ruminate over it a few times. 

“How does your hand feel?”

“Uhhh, it feels like a hand?”

“Once you start catching a good memory, you’ll start to feel it. Like it’s winding up in your wand.”

“I thought you said to focus on the spell?”

“I did, but you need to think of a memory, too.”

“Ok, well, I’m  _ trying…” _ A strange and unfamiliar spark of bravery swept through Eddie, thinking about Richie staring at him right now. With his eyes still closed tight, he whispered, “Can you help me out a little?”

“Sure, uh… What about your Quidditch team acceptance? That must’ve felt really good!”

It  _ did _ feel kind of good, and Eddie could feel his wand warm in his palm just ever so slightly. “That’s kind of working… I think you need to help me out a little more.”

“Ok, well how — _ oh. _ Oh, ok. Well…” There was a brief pause and Eddie waited with anticipation before he heard Richie’s voice again, just inches from his face. “How’s this?”

“Better,” Eddie said without hesitation, wishing only that he could see the look in Richie’s face. “A little bit more motivation, though… not quite getting it… Maybe if you—”

Eddie was cut off, making an unflattering noise as he felt Richie lean down and kiss him. For a moment, Richie was about to pull away, but Eddie closed the gap and threw his arms around Richie’s neck, relishing in the feeling of Richie’s arms around his waist under the shade of the oak tree with sunlight sprinkling on them through the leaves. Heart practically bursting with joy, Eddie sank into Richie’s body and melted into their kiss with his fingers locked in his curls, the other still gripping his wand.

If he hadn’t known any better, he’d say it felt like it was on fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to clarify: the kitchen is fully of various magical creatures, all of whom get pay and PTO, cause we do not casually allow slavery to exist in this au. ahem. it was probably a thing, but it has been overthrown and dismantled and if I had a main protagonist hero that knew slavery existed without doing something about it, I just don't see the point???

**Author's Note:**

> Holla at me on tumblr @ fuckbitchesgetReddie  
> (Not minor compliant; 18+ Blog)
> 
> I may even post the individual Pottermore results at some point! Twas a very interesting character study!


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